Brian M. Morgan

I like to think of myself as a pretty accomplished DIYer. I love tackling projects around the house and always feel a bit of self-accomplishment when I step back and take a look at my completed work. I am, as many would expect, particularly hard on myself, looking for my own flaws so that I don't make the same mistake the next time. One such project that I was particularly proud of was the shelving that I planned and built at the top of Michael's bedroom walls. He does not have a rectangular bedroom, but instead has more or less 6 wall facings in his room. I was able to build the shelves to fit the top of his room and go around each wall so that he could set trophies, knickknacks, etc. on them.

Well, you should have seen, or heard, what happened last night. I was laying in bed about to drift off to sleep while watching a somewhat boring movie and heard a huge crash. Immediately I knew that one of the kids had not fallen because it was too loud. I was at the door to the bedroom in about 2 seconds flat. I went so fast across the bedroom that I was sliding across the floor to come to a stop. I ripped opened the bedroom door and started calling names to find where the noise came from. Katie didn’t answer and I took a step toward her room when I heard Michael say it’s down here. I flew down the steps saying where. He said something in his room. I was literally out of bed and down the steps and in his room within about 10 seconds.

When I turned on his light, I saw the mess. One section of the shelving above his closet was 6 foot long. Because of the span over his door it was supported by only 2 brackets and 2 smaller screws - the only size screws that would fit in the dumb brackets. I had even tacked them with an air nailer afterwards, but oh well. That part of the shelf had come down. Big time. During the fall, it shattered 2 glass banks, a glass picture frame, tore up his corner baseball shelf, slammed off his computer desk and ripped 2 huge chunks out of the wall.

The noise had scared me to death. I literally had thought that some piece of furniture had toppled over and perhaps onto one of the kids. I shook for 30+ minutes cleaning up all of the glass. What an experience.

What I found had happened was that during the process of hanging the shelving, one of the anchors I had put in to the drywall had went upward at an angle, meaning the weight pushing down on the shelf was pulling that anchor downward, directly out of the wall. And on that same side, the air nailer's nail had hit the drywall and pointed itself straight up in the air, not going in to the drywall.

If the goal of each of my DIY projects is to learn a lesson, I succeeded on this one. Today, it's drywall patchwork time :)

Brian Morgan is a native of Chesapeake, Ohio and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from Marshall University and a Master of Science Degree in Technology Management from the Marshall University Graduate College. He has served as an assistant professor in the Integrated Science and Technology Program at Marshall University since the Fall 2000 semester, and as an associate professor since Summer 2008. His current interests are e-commerce applications and the development of interactive computer-based learning simulations for K-12 students.

He has taught several different courses in computer and information technology, including e-commerce, database systems, C++ programming, Java programming, operating systems, multimedia systems and programming, and data structures with C++. He has also worked over the past four years to help reshape the curriculum of the Integrated Science and Technology’s computer and information technology major to better fit the needs of area employers.

Prior to beginning his teaching career, Brian served as Marshall University’s Director of the Center for Instructional Technology from 1997 to 2000. He was responsible for the everyday duties of the Center, as well as managing Instructional Technology and World Wide Web Development on both the Huntington and South Charleston campuses of Marshall University, and coordinating faculty and staff IT development training programs.

His career using technology at the professional level began in 1996 when he was hired as the first Instructional Technologist at Marshall University. In this role, he was responsible for working with Information Technology staff and faculty from a variety of disciplines on the selection and production of CD-ROM-based and WWW-based multimedia instructional materials, assisting faculty and staff through training and consulting in integrating computing and information resources into the curriculum, tracking current and emerging Internet and development technologies, and aiding in the progression and completion of technology grants.

Brian currently resides in Proctorville, Ohio with his wife Melissa and their three children Michael, Katie, and Alex.